OZIAS HUMPHRY, R.A. | Portrait of Suliman Aga Le Luna

Charles Henry Hart, New York;
sale, London, Christie's, 7 November 1988, lot 113

Williamson, 1904, vol. II, p. 12, pl. LXXIV, no. 4;
Williamson, 1918, p. 242

The colours of the sitter's kaftan have faded and the sky has warmed up. However, the face is in excellent order. The white highlights on the turban have suffered minor loses. Overall this is a very imposing miniature.
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The presence of a representative of the Tripoli Regency in London at this date was certainly connected with the role of the Barbary States and the implementation of British government policy in the Mediterranean. This included securing sources of food for the British garrisons of Gibraltar and Menorca, ensuring freedom from attack for British shipping and, ideally, the restriction of trade of other European States. It is interesting that this portrait, which shows the sitter wearing a turban and dolama, was commissioned by Mary Bruce, Duchess of Richmond, who had been portrayed wearing ‘Turkish’ dress by Angelika Kauffmann, some seven years previously.